Ford Freestyle Lots of Problems

Comments

Actually, I think that the Freestyle made a better SUV than the Explorer, except for towing. It was far better for urban tasks. It hauled people and got great MPG. My guess is that the management at Ford worried about the FS stealing sales from the Explorer, and didn't market the vehicle. This was stupid and short sighted, as was not offering the CVT as an option rather than as standard. The FS was styled very much like an Explorer.

The Flex is a Taurus X with a different body shell, so the basic utility and shape of the FS lives on. With a 6 speed transmission.

I have a 2007 Ford Freestyle that decided to just completely stop working today. I was pulling out of a parking lot into traffic, hit my gas pedal to accelerate, and NOTHING! Instead, there I am sitting in the lane for oncoming traffic with a car that I can't get to budge. Fantastic. The car was still on. It turns on and off with no problems whatsoever. It just won't go anywhere. Any ideas as to what the problem could be?

How was your problem resolved. My dealership quaoted me $850 plus for a new computer chip. My guages all drop to zero and it is usually when I am going uphill. The AC is not affected nor the radio nor the power steering. The gas, speedometer and rpms go to zero. The car still gets great mileage at 104K and the transmission is wondrerful.

Your "gauges all drop to zero" problem sounds a lot like a challenge I had with my Saab 9000 years ago. Does your Freestyle lurch and appear to cut off briefly when it happens? My radio also cut off - again briefly with the instruments as I recall.

I took it to the dealer. They kept it over a month. They thought it might be the "computer" but I seem to recall they checked that as well. Still no progress.

A Saab technician from a local shop came in to REI where I was selling backpacks at the time and I described my problem. He said to replace the battery cable(s). I can't recall if it was the positive, negative or both.

I told my dealer this. They said they had already "checked" the battery cables and they were fine. I told them to replace them. They did and the problem was solved.

I purchased my 2007 Freestyle in March with 60K miles. My car was doing the exact same thing as your car. I am located in Texas where we are having a record breaking heat wave. I noticed my car 'acts up' mostly when it gets very hot, or when it's been idling for a little bit. usually it would cut out and the wrench light would come on, but this week it caused the check engine light :sick: to come on. Took it into the Dealership, they just called back and said it was the Throttle Body. So they will replace that. I hope this will fix the problem. Fingers Crossed.

Mine did the exact same thing to me yesterday. Any feedback would be great. I bought mine used and have had it less than three weeks. Going in to discuss things with the dealer today. Not a happy camper. Left me stranded in traffic yesterday in Colorado Springs. Have loved it for the last couple weeks. Hope the dealer stands by things.

How did you get your problem resolved? Mine would do this intermittently and the dealership told me it was the computer chip. Battery cables would be a lot cheaper as some suggested. Last night on a long trip the AC went off as well as all the guages and dash lights. It stayed off this time for about fifteen minutes and the car ran badly. Then it quit. It did it again a few times but only for a minute or so. Please let me know how it resolved. Thanks!

I fixed my problem by getting the throttle body cleaned. It fixed the problem for over a year, but it has started jumping forward, even with your foot on the brake, so it is time again. At least it was a quick fix though.

I've had my 06 Freestyle for 2 years. Did the surging thing, wrench light came on ,they replaced the air flow sensor. This year did it again , but stalled out and lost power, they replaced the throttle body. By the way I'm now out 1600. because none of this is coverered under the warranty. Now its back at shop today 2 weeks later and it needs a AC compressor. 1500.00.They say it covered under warranty but I have to pay deductible which my paper work says I have a zero deductible. I have reported them to the Attorney General because of there warranties and to Dept of Motor Vehicles for unsafe vehicles. They are investigating these cars.DON"T BUY ONE. I will never buy a Ford again.

Until I got to 102K I had few problems: mostly brakes...they don't stay round...but I do a lot of mountain driving...and a couple of engine mounts broke.then the throttle control went out almost $900 and now at 105K the instrument cluster...$769.39.The AC still is great (it was 117 degrees yesterday and the AC worked well) as is the transmission and I have never changed those fluids as I was advised not to with the idea that once opened then the trouble begins.I think I lucked out on my car so far with no real problems until now, just good maintenance and frequent oil changes. I had a lemon T-Bird once and know how disappointing and frustrating it can be.

You guys are scaring me to death. I have an opportunity to buy an '06 for a great price. Carfax shows no alarms and the engine seems to be running wonderfully. Super clean inside and it would fit my family (2nd car) very well. Great price w/ mileage in the low 90's.Would you recommend this or not?//Ron

I decided to repair my car. I love it and have had no issues until a month ago. I maintain it well, but do a lot of mountain driving. I got a new throttle body with labor at the dealership $806 (intermittent bog, loss of power with no warning) and the instrument cluster $716 (dash instrument panel indicators drop to zero intermittently). I have had four brake jobs and three sets of tires, a new fuel filter and that is it. The AC and transmission are wonderful. I have the two whell drive. It now has 106K and am taking it to the Utah mountains again for elk hunting and trout fishing next week, (a 1500K round trip) with confidence. It is a great car, comfortqable, convenient with all the plug in places, cargo and three rows of set setup, and holds my bicycle, camping gear, have slept in it and traveled all over the US, Mexico and Canada in it. Again, I love it. Even the CD payer still works well. Mine is a 2005. I have never changed the AC or transmission fluids as I was reeatedly advised not to break into those systems unless I experience problems. I have none so will wait for that. It is 114 degrees outside here today in AZ and I can assure you if the AC didn't work well I would not be in that car for five minutes. If I could find one with under 80K on it I would buy it in a heartbeat. Mine was never a lemon ever and believe me I have had two so feel blessed with this one. Good luck.

Seriously, though, DO NOT BUY THIS CAR!!! I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with mine. I cannot sell it in good conscience knowing what a danger it is. If you love your family, do not put them in this car!

I have a 2006 Freestyle and my instrument cluster went out in late July and remained in active for about 16 hours. The next morning I went out and it all worked. I took it to the Ford dealer along with the indications I had, i.e. no rpm, no speed, no gauges and the fact that the backup lights remained on no matter what gear it was in. They replaced the instrument cluster. Today that cluster had been in there a little over a month and when I started it up all the same indications are back along with the car running rough. Since the cluster is under warranty that is the good news but I'm afraid of what the real problem is. I've owned the car about a year and have had 3 electrical problems with it.

Of course you'll get a mostly negative response from the folks here, but remember there are thousands of Freestyles out there with zero problem, so just because you're reading about a dozen folks here with problems, don't let that be the deciding factor.

What happens is that people with problems will search online and find these forums for answers to their problems and then post. For the thousands of people without any problems, they're not going online to forums like this to post how great their car is.

As an example, the Honda Odyssey Edmunds Transmission Problems forum has almost 2000 posts.

"Seriously, though, DO NOT BUY THIS CAR!!! I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with mine. I cannot sell it in good conscience knowing what a danger it is. If you love your family, do not put them in this car! "

If you really have that much distrust in the vehicle, trade it in to a dealer and get a different car.

I agree with prev. post & would emphasize the DO NOT DRIVE THIS CAR part!!! By continuing to drive it you will become part of the problem. I have a Freestyle 2007 with "ditto" all the same defects. The "lunging" is bad enough but it is the acceleration problems & power loss we all are having when we approach intersections or making any turns that becomes the perfect setup for accidents with injury or death. I'm >upset with Ford right now but I do know I won't be able to blame them if I keep driving my Freestyle & cause an accident. I would like to know statistics or investigations done on accidents involving Freestyles. The defect with our Freestyles would probably look like driver's error and dismissed.

I have an 06 Freestyle and have not had any problems related to the throttle body... I currently have the traction control light on and getting it looked at this week... but I love this car! many have had some problems which I cross my fingers on. My car has 114,000 on...

I traded mine in and had to go back to the ford dealer to cancel the Warranty. My salesman at the Ford dealership said to me "I am so glad you sold that car". What does this tell you! And then he had the nerve to say "Bring your new Honda to us we can do the service on it" I was like u have to be kidding me.

I just put another 3k on mine after the repairs and now have 108K on it and am so gratefuol that I did not trade it in. I went through the mountains in AZ and Utah for trout fishing and elk hunting for two weeks, used the car hard, most of the time up and down from 6 to 9.5K feet, greasy mud, traction control and lots of low gear use. Cold at night and hot in the day. I LOVE this car!

My 2007 Freestyle lunged horribly and sometimes stalled. The dealer never found anything. Then it got better Then it got worse. Finally, after taking it again and them finding nothing, about 6 mos later it came to a dead stop and wouldn't start,. Not the starter or anything but another dealer (in MD) found the "ineritia switch" was bad. Now it is fine- no more lunging. so you might check that.. I also was afraid I was going to kill someone, seriously, with the lunging forward.

just bought 06 freestyle 46000 milesvery noisy engine and sounds like it is straining to keep up,took it in for check they said its normal. type of transmission,cvt? has anyone driven at 60mph with rear windows open,could lose your hearing

It is normal for a cvt vehicle to produce more roar in accelerating because it holds the rpms much longer. We like ours very much because it is always doing the right thing without shift shock. However, "normal" noise is relative, so I don't know about yours. And keep your rear windows shut or cracked only a little, otherwise the buffeting is intolerable. If you have other questions, feel free to ask. Good luck.

I have a 2006 Freestyle. Yes I have had throttle body problems, just replaced mine - 20 minutes and $350 from ebay. We have 130,000 miles on ours and it is one of the VERY best cars I have ever owned! If some of you that feel guilty about selling yours, call me and I will take if off you hands if it has low miles and assuming it is otherwise good shape. I wish they still made them. I look all the time for a replacement with low miles. We regularly get over 27 MPG highway, and never below 20 MPG city and it holds 7 passengers comfortably. It has PLENTY of power, you try to catch us on the way between Austin and Louisiana!!! What a great car!!!

i have a 2006 freestyle and i was experiencing the lunging problem. for me it was the throttle body. i got a friend of mine to get a can of throttle body cleaner and he help me clean it with out evening removing it. so a job that ford was going to charge me almost a thousand buck to replace it. i got done with a $5 can of throttle body cleaner and $20 bucks for me friend assisting me. after that i had no more problems with lunging and it has been fine ever since.

Okay, it all started 2 years ago: my reverse sensors stopped working, then my external temperature sensor was 15 degrees off. Now, it says 127 degrees outside, so my heater wont kick in when its 15 degrees out unless my defroster is on AND my rear defroster is too. Thats the only way to get heat in my car!!! Now I replaced the starter, it needed to be. It starts rough and then stalls out if you dont floor it and feather the gas until the idle stabilizes. I just got the throttle body cleaned and a computer hookup said everything was fine, but it still starts crappy. I was getting ready to leave the garage; started it and it sounded like an ooga horn, TWICE then started right up on the third through 7th tries. I am at wits end with all these mysteries!!! Any in-put??